Visible-signal telegraph.



PATENTED' JAIL-1a, 1903;

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No. 713,332. PATENTED JAN. 1a, 1903;

W. A. FARRELL VISIBLE SIGN AL TELEGRAPH.

APPLICATION FILED APR. '7, 1902. V

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PATENTED JAN. 13.1903. W. A. FARRELL. VISIBLE SIGNAL TELEGRAPH.

APPLICATION I'ILED 7, 1902.

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PATENTED JAN. 13,1903.

W. A. FARRELL.

VISIBLE SIGNAL TELEGRAPH.

' APPLIOATION FILED APR. 7, 1902.

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I0 MODEL.

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LNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM A. FARRELL, OF WELLSVILLE, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR OF ONE- HALF TO JACOB RAUBER, OF WELLSVILLE, NEW YORK.

VISIBLE-SIGNAL TELEGRAPH.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N 0. 718,332, dated January 13, 1903.

Application filed April 7, 1902. Serial No. 101,698. (No model.) I

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, WILLIAM A. FARRELL, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Wellsville, in the county of Allegany and State of New'York, have invented new and useful Improvements in Visible-Signal Telegraphs, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

My invention relates to a visible-signal telegraph, the object being to form letters of the alphabet and similar characters by simultaneously flashing a plurality of lights arbitrarily selected from different clusters for the purpose of forming the characters of a prearranged alphabet.

The principalfeatures of my apparatus consist of a switchboard provided with switches for manipulating an electric current and a series of lights, preferably nine in number, arranged in distinct clusters, each cluster being made up of lights of different color and the several clusters being alike.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures.

Figure 1 is a front elevatiompartly broken away, of my improved switchboard. Fig. 2 is a rear elevation of said switchboard. Fig. 3 is a perspective view of one of the pull-down switches used upon the switchboard. I Fig. 4 is a diagrammatic detail showing the arrangement of the lamps used for flashing the signals. Fig. 5 is a front elevation of a mast upon which the lamps are arranged vertically. Fig. 6 is a side elevation of a mast upon which the lamps are so mounted as to be read either horizontally or vertically, according to adjustment; and Fig. 7 shows the lamps as depending from a balloon and so disposed as to be read vertically downward.

A thin box-like frame 1 is provided with a leaf 2, mounted thereon by means of hinges 3, so as to be capable of opening and closing. Within the frame are mounted a number of metallic strips 4, connected togetherby end strips 5, said end strips being connected with a battery 6 by means of an insulated wire 7 and a controlling-switch 8. The battery is grounded at 9. The controlling-switch 8 is for the purpose of rendering the switchboard idle or active, as desired. Upon the strips 4 are mounted a series of pull-down switches 10, some of which are provided with three knife-contacts 10 and others with only two, 10 as shown. Situated below these switches are U-shaped contacts 11 12 for mating the knife-contacts just mentioned. By pulling down the switches one at a time connections are formed between the battery 6 and the U-shaped contacts 11 and'l2, mounted on an insulating-block 13. These U-shaped contact-points are therefore insulated from each other and all surrounding parts and are connected with the terminals 14 15 16 upon the back of the board, these terminals being more particularly shown in Fig. 2. Upon the back of the board are mounted the omnibus plates 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, and 25. These omnibus plates are provided with divers binding-screws 26, from which lead the Wires 27, all as indicated in Fig. 2. The wires 27 are also connected to the terminals 14 15 16 for the purpose of completing the circuit through the lamps connected therewith. The terminals are arranged for the most part in groups of three, and each is connected with a lamp arranged in a different cluster. 7 Figures and certain punctuation-points are indicated by less than three lamps, and therefore a smaller number of the terminals and of the lights willsuffice. Forinstance,the figure S is made by flashing a white and a green light, the terminalsof which are shown at 28 in the lower right-hand corner of Fig. 2. The result of the arrangement above described is that when any one of the pull-down switches 10 is closed connection is made between the battery and some one group of terminals. bus plates are connected individually with the cables 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, and 37, there being as many such cables as there are plates. Each of these cables leads to a separate lamp, cable 29 being connected with lamp 38,cable 30 being connected with lamp 39, cable 31 being connected with lamp 40, cable 32 being connected with lamp 41, and so on throughout the entire number of lamps and cables, the cables 29 to 37 being therefore connected with the lamps 38 to 46. A general cable 47 is connected with each of the lamps and is grounded at 48, as is indicated in Fig. 4.

The omni- In Fig. 5 the lamps are arranged as in Fig. 4:, but are rendered movable by being mounted upon the rocking shaft 49, supported upon the mast 50. The rocking shaft 49 is provided with arms 51 52 53, each arm bearing acluster of lamps. The shaft is rocked by means of a hand-lever 51- for the purpose of shifting the lights in position where they may not be hidden by the mast and may be advantageously seen from different points.

In Fig. 6 the mast 55 supports a bearing 56, in which the rocking beam 57 is journaled so as to be freely movable into any desired position, either horizontally or vertically. Pullrods 58 59 are provided for the purpose of governing the several positions. It is clear that by means of these rods the rocking beams 57 can be arranged either horizontally or vertically. By means of vertical bearings 60 the entire rocking beam and all of its immediate connections can be bodilyswung around from one side to the other. By this means any and all possible positions may be given to the rocking beam 57, so as to display lights in such manner that they may be observed from any desired direction. The arrangement of the lamps upon the balloon B, as arranged in Fig. 7 is the same as that indicated diagram mat ically in Fig. 4.

The circuits are as follows: ground 9, battery 6, cable 7, switch 8, strip 5, strips 4, switches 10, contacts 11 12, terminals 14 15 16, omnibus plates, (selected arbitrarily, say 17, 22, and 2a,) cables, (selected arbitrarily, say 29, 34, and 36,) lamps (selected arbitrarily and corresponding with omnibus plates and also with cables, say 38, 13, and 45) to groundcable 47, and thence to ground 18, thus making a complete circuit. The knives of each switch are electrically connected with each other and of the pat-tern indicated in Fig. 3. When one of these switches is closed, the connection is made with three terminals, and these terminals are thereby connected each with the other. There is no need for maintaining separate circuits for the three terminals, as each terminal is connected with only one of the omnibus plates, and therefore with only one of the lights. No matter what may happen when a switch is pulled down it is unable to actuate any more than three lamps, for the reason that it is connected with a proper number of omnibus plates and each plate actuates a particular lamp.

The lamps shown in the drawings are arranged as follows: Each of the three clusters contains lamps having the respective colors white, red, green, so that the entire column reads from left to right when the row is horizontal or reads from top to bottom when the row is vertical and follows this order of arrangement: white, red, green in the first cluster; white,red,green in the middle,and white, red, green in the last cluster. The signals are made by simultaneously flashing more than one of these lamps, the signals being made more distinct by selecting lamps of different colors from different clusters. For instance the letter A is made by simultaneously flashing the white lamp of the first cluster, the green lamp of the second cluster, and the red lamp of the last cluster. The electrical connections may be followed by referring to the upper right-hand corner of Fig. 2. The operator at the distant station upon seeing the row of lights consisting of white, green, and red knows that the letter A is meant. Upon this principle I have constructed an entire alphabet, as follows:

In the above alphabet where the characters are indicated by abbreviations in separate parentheses the lamps are in separate clusters; but where two abbreviations are in one pair of parentheses the lamps are in the same cluster. For instance,in the letter A the white, green, and red lamps are in separate clusters, whereas in making the character 8: the red and white lamps are in the same cluster. I prefer to select lamps from different clusters whenever practicable, for the reason that they may be more distinctly observed. Each of the pull-down switches represents a letter or a character and when closed forms the proper connection for flashing the proper combination of lamps, which according to the code given indicates the letter or other character. For instance, to make the letter H I simply pull down the switch marked by that letter in Fig. 1, with the result that I complete the electrical connection through omnibus plates 18, 22, and 23, connected, respectively, with cables 30, 34, and 35, thereby actuating lights 39, 43, and 44:, thus flashing out the signal red, green, white.

Spaces between words are indicated either by the character designated in the code-to wit, a single white light-or by merely leaving an interval, as in Morse telegraphy. I do not confine myself, however, to the above code. Any other code may be employed without departing from the spirit of my invention. Neither do I confine myself to the particular number of lamps mentioned, nor the particular order of their arrangement, nor to the colors specified, nor the exact relation of these colors each to the other.

It is obvious that many combinations in regard to color and position may be obtained by changing the order of connecting the cable-lines 29 37 to the omnibus strips. -In this manner new alphabets may be formed and the combination for each character noted by flashing them separately.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent- I 1. A visible-signal telegraph, comprising a switchboard provided with a plurality of om nibus bars, and a plurality of wires leading thereto, a plurality of pull-down switches each provided with contacts and connected with said bars, a plurality of lamps connected with said contacts of said switches, and controllable by movements of said switches, and a source of electricity for energizing said lamps.

2. A visible-signal telegraph, comprising a plurality of distinct clusters of lamps, said clusters being spaced apart and the individual-lamps of each cluster being of different colors, manually-controlled mechanism for lighting and extinguishing said lamps, and means controllable at will for shiftingthe relative positions of said clusters.

3. A visible-signal telegraph, comprising a plurality of switches, each provided with an individual handle and with a plurality of separate contacts, a plurality of electric lamps of different colors and arranged in separate clusters, the several contacts of each switch being connected with as many individual lamps disposed in as many clusters, the ar- 5. A visible-signal telegraph, comprising a switchboard, a source of electricity connected therewith, a rocking beam, pull-rods connected with said rocking beam for actuating the same at will, electric lamps disposed upon said beam, a switchboard for flashing said lamps, and a source of electricity for energizing said lamps.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of 7 two subscribing witnesses.

WILLIAM A. FARRELL.

Witnesses:

THAD. O. MOORE, JOHN FAY. 

